London Knights Sam Dickinson named OHL Defenceman of the Year
One day people may wonder what took National Hockey League teams so long to call his name.
Dickinson was named the Ontario Hockey League Defenceman of the Year on April 24 after putting up the best offensive season by a D-man in London Knights history and also leading the entire league in plus-minus.
Dickinson recorded 91 points in the regular season and was a plus-64.
'It's obviously a huge honour,' said Dickinson. 'I have so many people to thank, from everyone with the London Knights to my teammates to my family.
Dickinson joins a long list of distinguished players and Hall of Famers who have earned the honour.
Story continues below advertisement
Names like Larry Murphy and Al MacInnis headline the Max Kaminsky Trophy over the years.
Dickinson didn't exactly find the position naturally from a young age.
Get daily National news
Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
In fact, he was close to trying to find something else other than hockey to play after being cut from a travel team for the third year in a row.
That's when the coach offered him a pair of goalie pads.
'My journey to get to defence was pretty long,' laughs Dickinson. '(After not making the team) I was told they needed a backup goalie and I figured since it hadn't worked out so far that maybe I'd try out goalie. I was 10 or 11 years old and I was still figuring out whether or not I wanted to play hockey.'
Dickinson stuck it out in net for the entire season and it pushed him in a new direction.
'After my one year of goalie I swore to myself that I'd never strap the pads on again and I've been true to that to this day,' Dickinson admits. 'After that I played defence for a year and then forward for a couple of years and was finally moved back to defence full time when i was 14 or 15.'
Could playing so many positions have led to his high-end ability to see the game?
Story continues below advertisement
'I don't know that I was thinking the game too well at that point,' smiles Dickinson. 'I was just skating around, trying to get the puck and put it in the net.'
An unconventional path but given where that path has taken him, no one would want to change a thing.
Dickinson is the eighth London Knight to be honoured as the league's best defenceman.
The most recent Knight to win the Max Kaminsky trophy was Evan Bouchard in 2019.
Danny Syvret, John Erskine, Bob Halkidis, Rick Green, Rob Ramage and Brad Marsh are the other London names on the trophy.
Marsh and Ramage were co-winners in 1978.
Dickinson and the Knights are preparing for Game 1 of the OHL's Western Conference Championship series on Friday, Apr. 25 at 7 p.m., at Canada Life Place.
Coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m., on 980 CFPL, at 980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Edmonton Journal
a minute ago
- Edmonton Journal
Canucks: Career crossroads to culture carrier, Conor Garland's fight got it right
Article content 'This year in Vancouver, I was in a leadership role from Day 1, and at worlds I wore a (alternate captain) letter and was part of that leadership group,' said Garland. 'I enjoyed being the guy who got the puck and retrieved it for them and let their hind-end talent take over. I learned what it takes to win in a tough tournament like that where a lot has to go right. Article content 'We were a tight-knit group and we did some stuff that I'd like to bring back (to Vancouver) to help bring success.' Article content It was more preparation for Garland, who will be play a key Canucks' role next season, now matter how the second line shapes up, which is encouraging on personal and team levels because winning is everything. Article content However, it hasn't been all sunshine and roses. There were darker times. Article content Garland appeared expendable in the fall of 2023. He changed agents and pondered whether a change of scenery would help him, and the salary cap-challenged Canucks, find solutions. His cap hit was $4.95 million for three more seasons, and at the time, that was considerable for a third-line winger. Article content Article content That's when the competitive side of Garland took over. Despite a glut of wingers vying for roster positions, he just played and seized every day. It wasn't easy. He buckled down, and his 20-goal campaign helped drive the Canucks to a Pacific Division title and within a victory of the Western Conference final. Article content Garland gave an assist to former Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet, and it was a lesson in stick-to-it culture. Article content 'He tried to block out the noise and keep me day to day,' recalled Garland. 'Those first six games were pretty tough — especially that first road trip. Any time I was in a tough spot, I could lean on him and guys in the room to understand the situation I was in.' Article content Any team with aspirations needs good players and good people. Garland will be influential for a return to the playoffs next season, but in the process he knows that hockey is a business. Article content Article content Garland saw close friend and former linemate Dakota Joshua depart in a July 17 trade to Toronto. And on May 14, Tocchet took the head-coaching position in Philadelphia. He was largely responsible for Garland getting his game together at Arizona as a young and brash winger. Now Adam Foote gets to reap the rewards of his progress. Article content Foote is a rookie NHL bench boss who excelled as a tough and dutiful defenceman. He logged 1,154 career NHL games, won two Stanley Cup titles, plus Olympic and world championship gold. Article content 'He sees the game from a defensive standpoint, but we've talked offence and our rush game and things we'll look at in the offensive zone,' said Garland. 'He's one of the smartest minds on defence and the penalty kill.
Edmonton Journal
7 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
That one player other than McDavid the Oilers would be wise to lock up just now?
That one player other than Connor McDavid the Edmonton would be wise to sign lock up just now? Article content Fortunately this player has been mentioned repeatedly on Oilers Now by team insider Bob Stauffer as a player the team intends to sign. Article content I'm talking about Vancouver castaway Vasily Podkolzin, known affectionately to Oilers fans as Podzilla in honour of his hammering, crashing, board-thumping style of play. Article content Such is his prowess at the physical game, which includes the ability to win pucks through aggressive forechecking and backchecking, that Draisaiktl was reportedly satisfied to play with him through the year, which is no small accomplishment. Article content If we rank NHL forwards by their rates of goal scoring, assisting on goals and hitting at even strength for the 2024 and 2025 playoff season, giving equal weight to each of the three categories, Podkolzin ranks as the top forward in the NHL. Article content He made the most of limited ice-time, just 10.1 minutes per game at 5-on-5. He found a way to help out on scoring players while delivering 25.6 hits per 60 at 5-on-5, the fifth highest of any forward in the last two playoff years. Article content Article content Of course this is a small sample size, and if we do a similar ranking for the entire 2024-25 regular season, Podkolzin ranks just 246th out of all regular NHL fowards due to his unexceptional goals and assists rates. Article content But we can see that if he can just pick up his offensive game a bit, he'll be a very useful power forward for years to come, one that can hold his own in a Top 9 slot, if not playing in the Top 6. Article content Article content More evidence of Podkolzin's worth? At the Cult of Hockey video review project, we track hard plays that Oilers players make on Grade A shots, the goalie screens, hard charges, battles won, tips and jams that lead to Grade A shots and goals. Article content In the regular season, Podkolzin was the second best Oiler — after the superlative Zach Hyman — at executing such hard plays to create dangerous shots on net. Article content In 82 games, Podkolzin executed eight goalie screens, seven tip shots, 14 jam shots, five hard charges or drives on net, and won 31 battles leading to Grade A shots, 65 hard plays on Grade A shots in total, 0.79 per game, behind Hyman at 1.64 per game and just ahead of the increasingly frisky and mean Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at 0.78 per game.
Global News
13 hours ago
- Global News
‘Some nerves': Dylan Samberg's new contract with Winnipeg Jets came down to 11th hour
Better late than never. The Winnipeg Jets' blueline from last season will remain entirely intact after restricted free agent defenceman Dylan Samberg put his name on the dotted line earlier in the week, just ahead of the deadline. Samberg signed a three-year contract for an average of $5.75 million per year. The deal was struck just hours before they were set to go to arbitration. Samberg said there were a few nervous moments before the contract was finally completed and he had already flown into Toronto when the deal got done on the eve of the hearing. 'Obviously very excited about it,' Samberg told reporters on a Zoom call on Thursday. 'Excited to be back in Winnipeg for three more years. There's some nerves that go into it, especially as you get down to the deadline and whatnot. But I'm glad we were able to agree on a deal and get things moving forward.' Story continues below advertisement Samberg has played in parts of four seasons with the Jets. He moved into a top-four role last season and posted career highs in goals and points. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Samberg was looking for more of a long-term contract and hopes the next three years are just the start. And getting second pairing minutes last season only helped him play with more confidence. 'It's hard to make it to the league, but it's even harder to stay there,' he said. 'I'm happy with being able to stay there and continuing to grow and feel like each year that goes by, I become more confident and this last year with moving up to that second pair and logging more minutes, playing against tougher competition — I was happy with how I handled it and I'm excited for next year and I want to continue to grow on that second pair.' Samberg likes the group the Jets have assembled and is excited to get a chance to play with recent addition Jonathan Toews. 'I think it's huge,' said Samberg. 'Obviously a guy with experience and another voice to hear from. With Lows (Adam Lowry), Schenner (Luke Schenn), and now Toews, I think it'll be great. Obviously one of those guys that I grew up watching. 'It's very cool and I'm excited to meet him and I think this is a good thing for him and I think he's excited to get back home. Story continues below advertisement 'So we're excited about all of our new additions and hopefully we'll continue to go further this year.'
